percy jackson: nightmare of the maw
by understandable paradox
Summary: gods are the same vain greedy creatures. but its all about how they regulate themselves that make them scary.
1. Chapter 1

_*prologue*_

Percy jackson, nico di angelo and jason grace had been called by the gods for a quest, unfortunately adding on to both the disaster of apollo and whatever was happening down in boston…

More than that, they were picked given that they were some of the strongest demigods in current existence, did they really need all that fire power for one quest? So far each could easily lead their own troop to fight, one could even create an undead one!

They were given a small vessel, disguised to look like the ones that regularly visited this traveling island. Aside from that, no help aside from that…

The massive ship bobbed up and down on the water, percy stayed on the deck, checking their location as jason and nico slept below. The waters didn't seem friendly, not the same way as the waters near canada but more like they understood that this ship did not belong here.

The wind began to blow slightly… below deck, jason began to toss and turn in his sleep. This wind was unnatural.

Nausea and vertigo swept through percy as he suddenly clutched the railing, he felt like his entire body and his surroundings began switching sizes, he couldn't figure out where he was anymore, he felt tiny…

Below deck nico tried to burst up from his now massive bed, the once thin covers were now massive, the covers weighed a ton, pinning him down to the bed as a massive figure formed in the shadows. He could hear jason struggling in the bed near his.

The dark figure lumbard forward...what the hell was he wearing? With each step, something swayed from side to side. His eyes couldn't focus in the dark soon enough as the massive being bundled him into the covers. Nico could hear jason's defiant shouts as he was bundled up into the cloth prison.

Percy jackson unfortunately was still on deck, trying to regain his could see clouds gathering for a storm, was this some kind of ambush?!

He contemplated turning the ship over and carrying nico and jason the rest of the way to their destination…

The plan had its flaws, for one, the waters were not his fathers and different waters apparently had different rules to them. Trying to control this may affect him badly for the rest of the quest… as much as he hated it, turning back may be a good idea, get more info out of the gods then the whole " _hey, do this because I can easily ruin portions of your life if you don't."_

He stumbled towards the door to the lower floors, now the size of castle gates.

" _Do you seek secrets, or safety?"_

He jerked his head towards the sky, where the voice seems to be coming from. Not good...he decided to go for broke, he reached deep inside himself, allowing the fear and anxiety of the situation to form something of use.

The water boiled over as his control seeped over it, spouts of pressurised water blasts towards the sky as currents rocket the ship forward. The plan was to distract whatever gods forsaken spirit was after him and outrun it.

It worked perfectly until a burst of wind whipped him backwards, sending him skidding down the salt water slicked deck.

" _What a shame...he found you first...he always finds children first…"_

He wanted to point out that he didn't know who that was, but he figured it out quickly, a giant with...he nearly barfed… his face was sagging all the way down to his knees, thick leather like lips swayed to and from, every so often, the stretched hollowed eye holes twitched, as if their were still living muscles under the diseased grey and rotting flesh. He was dragging around two blankets, bundled to hold the squirming forms of jason and nico.

Rage began to mutiny his logic and fear…

" _Go ahead, fight back~! Do you know how boring it is, watching child after child grovel? Kill him. Kill him like a real hero, and when your done, I'll kill you, I'll perade your bones to show the world of your bravery~!"_

Nothing quite like being told that killing someone will lead to your own bone parade. He couldn't help but to imagine a floating skull leading a percussion of calcium. Shockingly, he kept his hand off his blade.

"What do you want…?" percy spoke with surprising calm, he could spot his friends calming down as well, right now was not the best time to panic…

" _Well, I wanted to kill you...he would like to take you somewhere safe, though it is horrible. It would be much better if you let me kill you, your friends are doomed to that place already…"_

"Great offer, not taking it." he was finding his spot in the situation, time for talking, one of his many fail safes in emergencies.

It seems the wind spirit lost some kind of game, it wasnt allowed to kill him, nor was the big and wide store mascot over to his side allowed to catch him until he decided to go with him.

They were stuck in their own rules.

Now for the problems. If he tried to attack, he was almost positive that the two would strike and go for the kill. Problem number two, tall dark and melting had nico and jason, they wouldn't have a choice… so neither did he.

"How about...how about we make a deal ourselves, kinda feeling left out in this little game?" a plan was forming...he chose his words carefully, he tried his best to seem like any other kid they caught.

" _A deal? And what could you possible supply us with?"_

 _Bingo..._ jason normally was better with divine negotiations...but he could handle this.

"You know...you guys must be pretty bored right? You guys catch kids way to fast, and there's never enough right…?" he didn't try to alter his voice to sound sympathetic, he didn't want them to accidently catch on to quickly.

" _That is right...is this leading to something?"_

The big guy wasn't talking...lucky, he didn't want to see the jumbo lips flapping about. But he could see the giants sudden interest.

"Entertainment, you take me and my friends to this place, with our weapons, and you two get front row seats to three demigods ripping apart whatever hell hole you have in mind."

bored gods always wanted the next bit of entertainment. What was that roman term those giant twins talked about? panem et circenses?

To his surprise, the two began to laugh. At least, that was what he understood it to be, the actual sounds made his stomach out perform the flying graysons…

" _ **Deal"**_

Percy had about a minute to register the fact that he was whipped into the air and dropped into a dinghy, unfortunately he landed on his head. His vision went to black as his captor lowered himself in with his captured friends.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

Nico woke up, he was cold. His clothes were wet, and the floor was swaying slightly… hell of a thing to wake up to, that and his divine senses were on fire, he could sense wandering dead all around him. Some of them neutral, just spirits with no grip on this world, others? Like the ones above him? Hostile beyond relief.

He forced himself to sit up. He was in a metal room, haphazardly built pipes flowed up and down the walls like overgrown vines.

He still had his sword, fantastic, he wasn't damned completely...he drew his blade, allowing the cursed iron to ward off any spooks and creeps hanging in the air.

As he walked, he tried to gather his thoughts about what happened…

Percy was driving the ship because...well ocean man, next thing he knew, he was in a bag. Something hard hit his head and he was knocked out. Fun.

He was forced back to reality as he came to body of water….green and brackish with algae and rot from the things floating about in it. He had no real choice in this matter, swimming or awaiting rescue by the two prince charmings, if he was especially unlucky, maybe jason would carry him out superman style on the winds.

He clicked his tongue...new world, new rules. Time to see what the locals thought. He concentrated, trying to locate the most corporeal spirit available...and lo and behold a new guide formed before him.

A ghostly blue form formed above the water, a young lad in ragged clothes. His hair clung to his head as a wet mop. He was missing an arm.

"Can you help me?" nico asked.

sure he could force the spirit to comply, or even send it to the afterlife...but he could tell the boy had dealt with enough before his demise.

" _No...no one can help us. This is hell...fall on your sword, better that than starving or letting her catch you."_

Oh fantastic.

"I know you want to move on, lead me out of this place and i'll let you pass on to the afterlife. Deal?" his voice was stern yet gentle.

He wanted to ask about both of the rather unpleasant sounding things but he quickly figured out that ranting spirits never shut up.

" _Ok I guess...but if you are doomed, then please release my soul before yours is trapped."_

And the dead were already betting against him. That was also fun… he sheathed his sword and watched as the ghost floated away across the waters. Slow enough for him to swim and still keep up.

He dived in, the water was warm, salty and disgusting by all accounts. He remembered frank talking about venice waters, he felt like this was a pretty close second to the experience.

Pangs of anxiety seemed to shoot through him with each moment in the water, this water had to be dead, right? Nothing could live in this disgusting pond right? He couldn't sense anything below him, nothing with a soul that is.

He made it to the otherside of the pool, his clothes soaked in stagnant water. Fun.

He continued to follow the patch set by the blue spirit. A cold chill pierced through his jacket and shirts. He felt like he was getting weaker...what the hell was this place?

He could feel the ground beneath him suddenly tilt forward, percy?!

His breathing became heavy, by his guess, he was way to far below water to make it to the surface safely. If either of the two demigods here lost it, game over. Tons of metal would make his tomb in this place. He had to get to them fast… plenty of shadows here. This was a bad idea… well he had two options, keep following the ghosts for what may be days and risk two powerful demigods destroying the massive health code violation of a building around them...or risk disintegration into the unknown shadows around him.

He grabbed the ghostly guide and jumped.

 _oh god_

 _oh_ _god_

 _oh god_

his vison fractured, his stomach felt like it was shrinking with each second. His body shivered violently but he kept running, if he stopped… he couldn't think about it, his body was gripped with fear already.

he found his exit and burst through, collapsing onto the ground in an unconscious pile, shakily exhaling puffs of inky darkness with each breath.

In his final moments of consciousness, he could vaguely feel massive soft hands pick him up from the ground.


End file.
